Thursday, May 25, 2017

SoCal and Sunshine: Thinking Out Loud #38

Happy Thursday from sunny SoCal🌸 I am so excited to be in California visiting my brother and checking out the sights. Getting to SoCal has been an adventure in itself seeing as it took two Airbnb disasters and a flight getting pushed back causing me to miss my connecting flight, thus getting in over 2 hours later than planned and arriving smack dab in the middle of rush hour. Nonetheless I'm here now and I'm going to try to soak up some much needed sun and enjoy. Let's jump into this weeks thinking out loud!

1. I've used Airbnb multiple times to find places to stay all over the U.S. and I've never had a problem, but for some reason this trip seemed to be doomed. I booked a place over a month in advance and one week prior to leaving the host contacted me and said the current guest wanted to stay longer so she had to cancel my reservation. Cue scrambling to find a new place. I find a new place and I think all is well. But it's not. Less than 36 hours before I am set to leave my new host contacts me and says he has to cancel. He was incredibly rude and at one point threatens me so I call Airbnb basically in tears. There's only a handful of places left and all are significantly more expensive than what I originally paid. After over two hours on the phone and now less than 12 hours until I leave I finally got a new place to stay, but had to shell out over $100 more because the prior host screwed me. Needless to say I'm not overly happy with Airbnb or the jerk of a host right now. My new host has been fantastic though.


2. This quote seemed fitting after the whole Airbnb debacle. There was a series of bad days, but I am thankful to be in Cali now and spending time with my brother and his girlfriend. One bad day doesn't have to make another day or week or year, etc bad. Wake up each day with a thankful spirit and a good attitude. Good things will happen. There's always good even in the midst of heartache or struggle.


3. In the midst of a lot of ongoing chaos my best friend and I went out for a girls night. We hit up one of our favorite restaurants, had a fabulous dinner, relaxed, laughed, and got dairy free froyo after. I'm seriously so grateful for Kate because she never hesitates to tell me exactly what I need to hear. She knew life had been stressful recently and she immediately said, "We're going out for a girls night." It was exactly what I needed. I'm so thankful to have such an amazing best friend💜


4. I'm also incredibly thankful to everyone who participated in Put On Purple for lupus awareness last Friday. Typically I am not one to open up about my struggles with the disease, but in the past few years that I have been sharing my story I have met countless others who also struggle with the disease. I've formed amazing friendships with people from all over because they understand and relate to what I go through on a daily basis. Now I'm proud to share my story because if it makes one other lupus warrior feel less alone then I'm more than happy. If you or anyone you know struggles with lupus don't ever hesitate to email me, I'm more than happy to lend a listening ear. Of course I also wore purple because raising awareness and educating others about lupus is so important in the fight to find a cure for this cruel disease.


5. In the past few months I have really gotten into self-care. I used to only think of my time at the gym or running as all the self-care I needed, but I got so burned out. I shared more about why taking time for self-care is important to me in a post earlier this week. One of my favorite ways to take time out for myself is by doing a face mask. It's really helped my skin tone even out (as much as it will anyway thanks to lupus) and it's made my skin super soft. My favorite face mask is a dead sea face mask from skyorganics. I got it on sale on Amazon. I'm not sponsored in anyway by them I simply love their products and I feel good using their products knowing I'm not putting any harmful chemicals on my skin.


6. Cora has gotten increasingly lazy. She always used to greet me when I got home from the gym in the morning, now most of the time I'm lucky if she opens one eye or sometimes I have to step over her to get in. She always plays way harder in the spring and summer since she can be outside so much more so in the mornings she is dead tired. Normally around 8 or 9am she starts to really wake up and of course wants to play again🐶


7. I came across this quote this week and it really struck me. I used to be so big on journaling and I've kind of fallen away from that habit, but writing stuff down is how I make sense of things. I've also find writing to be incredibly healing. You can spill all of your feelings onto the page and when you're done you feel empty, but clean and you can close the book, walk away and begin again. 

I'm going to end things so I can head out and soak up some more SoCal sunshine☀ Have a fantastic weekend and a very happy Memorial Day!! 

How do you like to make sense of things? Journaling, Going for a walk, etc.
What is your favorite way to practice self-care?

2 comments:

  1. How old is Cora? Also, I'm glad you got that Air b'n'b fiasco sorted out; we've used it once or twice and it worked well both times, but I'm sure that doesn't happen all the time.

    It's been a humbling privilege to have you share your struggles with lupus. When people open up with their struggles, I know it's tough, but I respect your honesty and ability to want to bring others in and bring awareness to the disease.

    I love to journal or think or go for a walk or pray when I need to make sense of things. <3

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